Gamecock Women’s Rugby

Rugby was one of my favorite parts of college, but after tearing my ACL for the second time at the start of the season, I had to retire from the game. The silver lining? I found a new way to stay involved: by creating content for the team. 

For our second-ever media day, I planned, organized, and executed a full studio shoot. Knowing I wanted to capture the intensity and strength of our team, I staged the studio using butterfly lighting to emphasize the players’ focus and determination. The goal was to present a tough, unified image of our team, both for recruiting and community engagement. 

One of the biggest challenges was managing the scale of the shoot: I photographed 20 players in both home and away uniforms, along with group and creative individual shots. To keep things running smoothly, I recruited a teammate to manage the flow of players in and out of the studio so I could stay focused behind the camera. I had each player rotate through three main poses to keep the process efficient and consistent, saving time for more dynamic and personalized shots at the end. 

After the shoot, I created customized player cards for each athlete. These cards not only showcased the team’s personality and power but also broke our record for the most-liked content on our page. 

Additionally, I shot action shots at all of the Rugby Games. Photos were shared on social media and used to promote upcoming matches, fundraisers, and recruitment.

This project helped me channel my passion for rugby into visual storytelling and pushed me to manage large-scale production, design, and post-production with precision and creativity.